HAMPSTEAD, Ont. - Emergency officials in rural southwestern Ontario
describe the scene of a devastating crash that killed 10 migrant workers
and a truck driver as utter "carnage," with people trapped inside
twisted wreckage, dying shortly after first responders arrived.
Eleven
people were killed Monday afternoon in Hampstead, a tiny community
northeast of Stratford, after a flatbed truck broadsided the large white
GMC passenger van carrying 13 people, sending it hurtling across a lawn
and smashing into the side of a house.
Police and fire officials said it's a miracle that anyone survived what they describe as the worst collision they've ever seen.
"That's
really very amazing considering the crash that we saw there, the impact
and the carnage that was out there," Ontario provincial police Const.
Kees Wijnands told a news conference in Milverton, not far from the
crash site.
"It's a miracle that these people are still living."
Some
of the migrant farm workers in the van were from Peru, said provincial Labour Minister Linda Jeffrey.
Three
people from the van survived the crash. One was airlifted to a hospital
in Hamilton with life-threatening injuries. The other two were taken to
hospital in Stratford, though one has since been transferred to London
Health Sciences hospital. The patient who remains in Stratford is still
in critical condition, the hospital said.
When paramedics and
volunteer fire crews arrived on the scene of the horrific crash five
people were already dead. Firefighters had to perform a "very difficult"
extraction to get to the people in the van, said Bill Hunter, the fire
chief for the Township of Perth East.
"It's certainly something
that no one ever expects to see..that much carnage," Hunter said. "It
was definitely a terrible scene. I've never seen that much damage in a
motor vehicle collision before."
A woman who lives across from the
crash site said she heard a loud bang Monday afternoon and looked
outside to see a cloud of dirt rising and the two vehicles coming to a
rest.
The neighbour, who didn't want her name used, said her
husband ran out to help, but "there was nothing he could do" because the
victims already appeared dead.
He tried to assist one conscious survivor, but couldn't communicate because the survivor spoke no English, she said.
The
other six victims died as paramedics tried to save them, said local EMS
chief Linda Rockwood. A language barrier between paramedics and
conscious victims may have made rescue efforts more difficult, she said.
Police
are now working to track down next of kin for the victims — a difficult
task, they said, as some have family in the area and have lived in
Canada for many years, while others only have family in their home
countries.
"We are somewhat limited in what we can put out there
at this point because of the investigation and the way it's going,"
Wijnands said.
"Identity of next of kin has been the big issue, and that is going to really hamper us in putting out details."
Mayor
Ian Forrest said donations to the workers' families and emergency
services can be made through the CIBC anywhere in Canada.
The
owner of the farm that employed the migrants said they spent Monday
vaccinating 16,000 chickens before the collision. Albert Burgers said
some of them had been with the crew for more than a decade.
The
crash scene was cleared by this morning and investigators are trying to
determine what caused the collision. Weather does not appear to have
been a factor, Wijnands said.
The intersection is a two-way stop,
and the truck would have had the right of way. Based on what police told
the CEO of the truck company, Speedy Transport, it appears the van may
have gone through a stop sign and been hit by the truck.
Police identified the truck driver as Christopher Fulton, 38, of London.
The victims' bodies were brought to the coroner's office in Toronto, where they were to be identified.
View 11 people killed in Hampstead in a larger map
It
was the deadliest multi-vehicle crash in Ontario since 1999, when fog
near Windsor caused an 87-car pileup that killed eight people. Canada's
worst road accident was in Quebec in October 1997.
A chartered bus
taking a group of seniors on a tour plunged over an embankment near the
town of St-Joseph-de-la-Rive, killing 43 of the 48 people on board.
The province's health minister is looking into whether the survivors are covered under the provincial health plan.
"Seasonal
migrant workers in Ontario are covered from the time they arrive here,
assuming all the proper procedures have been followed," Deb Matthews
said.
"So, I am looking into the issue of whether these workers fall under the seasonal migrant worker program."
The labour minister said investigators are looking into who was in the van, who they worked for and who was transporting them.
A Google Streetview of the area, including the house before the crash.
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